But to see Jai on the field, to see him with his jersey, to see his wife and kids in the stand, what that's going to mean for him, what that's going to mean for his family forever is so, so thoughtful.

And this isn't, like you said, this isn't altering the record's to get a player who's suffered a knee injury and their career's finished to get to 100 games.

This is a player that was in the prime of their career.

He played every game last year.

He was our George Piggins medalist, the club's highest honour.

He was training fully with the team and the club into January this year.

And then in an instant, his life turned on its head and the lives of the people around him turned on its head.

But I have to say that Nick Politis has been pretty special throughout Jai's diagnosis.

What that's going to mean for him, what that's going to mean for his family forever is so, so thoughtful.

And this isn't, like you said, this isn't altering the records to get a player who's suffered a knee injury and their career's finished to get to 100 games.

This is a player that was in the prime of their career.

He played every game last year.

He was our George Piggins medalist, the club's highest honour.

He was training fully with the team and the club into January this year and then in an instant, His life turned on its head and the lives of the people around him turned on its head.

And it was great thinking from Wayne and Jason and Jeremy and Claudia and our team that this is an achievement that he would ordinarily have obtained.

But I have to say that Nick Politis has been pretty special throughout Jai's diagnosis.

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Yeah, it needed a rule change.

So that required the support of the club consultation committee, the NRL and the RLPA.

And all those three groups came together very quickly and said, we'd love to do it.

And then the Titans and the Roosters have been terrific as well.

And they knew that this was bigger than an interchange system or a rule protocol.

It was something that the game needed to make happen for Jai.

Hey Blake obviously from a football perspective a successful season right you guys will play finals football currently in 7th position and potentially get a home final but from a business perspective from a South Sydney football club perspective what has 2026 been for the South Sydney Rabbitohs?

Tell us about the protocols and the process once this plan was hatched about actually putting it into action.

Yeah, it needed a rule change.

So that required the support of the club consultation committee, the NRL and the RLPA and all Those three groups came together very quickly and said, we'd love to do it.

And then the Titans and the Roosters have been terrific as well.

And they knew that this was bigger than an interchange system or a rule protocol.

It was something that the game needed to make happen for Jai.

And I've got to give credit to Nick and Joe and everyone at the Roosters and Steve Mitchell and Dennis and Rebecca at the Gold Coast because they realised how important it was for Jai and they immediately jumped to it and they've been wonderful to deal with.

But from a business perspective, from a South Sydney Football Club perspective, what has 2026 been for the South Sydney Rabbitohs?

Who takes absolute responsibility for the idea of this could be a chance? When was it first mentioned?

Yeah, it was first mentioned a few weeks ago and it was an idea of Wayne, his head coach, Jason Clark, our football manager, Claudia Lovett and Jeremy and our media team that looking at Jai's record, he'd not reached 100 games at either of the three clubs that he'd played at and he was stuck on 98 with us.

And given his contribution to our club and his contribution to the game generally, it would be wonderful if he could get that achievement.

And 100 games means a lot to every NRL player who achieves it.

And so we hatched the idea that potentially he could play or run on in the last two games and get that 100-game milestone, which he thoroughly deserves.

The Titans, the Roosters, the NRL and the RLPA have been absolutely terrific since we came up with the idea and arranged and made it happen.

And we can't wait for Saturday and we can't wait for next Friday night.

jai understands and jai's already said that he's he's now at a stage where he he can't run so he will lead the team out um and take his place on the field and that's and then that will be off once the whistle is blown is that how to work

But what Bob and what Tom have done and what Liam's doing through Fight MND and MND New South Wales, unbelievable.

Yeah, what Bob and Tom have done to ride 5,000 kilometres from broom to barrel, it defies the imagination really when you start to think about it.

But to do it for such a good cause and to raise so much money for this insidious disease that everyone's trying to fight and hopefully at some stage beat.

How's Jai going? Yeah, Jai's good.

Obviously, his speech isn't great, but he's still managing to annoy everyone, which is a remarkable achievement.

If you ask Cody Walker what he thinks of Jai at the moment, he'd tell you.

But, no, he's down at training every day.

But what Bob and what Tom have done and what Liam's doing through Fight MND and MND New South Wales, unbelievable.

Yeah, what Bob and Tom have done to ride 5,000 kilometres from broom to barrel, it defies the imagination, really, when you start to think about it.

But to do it for such a good cause and to raise so much money for this insidious disease that everyone's trying to fight and hopefully at some stage beat.

How's Jai going?

Yeah, Jai's good.

Obviously, his speech isn't great, but he's still managing to annoy everyone, which is a remarkable achievement.

If you ask Cody Walker what he thinks of Jai at the moment, he'd tell you.

But, no, he's down at training every day.

And those stats that I just read out, it just goes to show why it's important for us to talk and shine a light on dementia.

It is.

I mean, 450,000 Australians living with it every day.

And I don't think there's a family in Australia that hasn't been touched by a relative suffering dementia.

So it's really important that our club, and particularly through the vehicle of South Cares, gets a chance to talk to the community about it.

Ideally, we want people to be educated about dementia and spotting the early signs of dementia and then starting conversations with people who might be suffering from it in a caring way, with confidence.

The ideal is that people can stay at home for longer and be cared for at home.

It's not only disappointing for him, but it must be disappointing for the club because he's such an important part of the team.

La mentalité de ce qui vient d'arriver ?

Oui, c'était difficile.

Je pense que...

Pour ceux d'entre nous dans les quatre murs, nous savions qu'il y avait quelque chose de mal avant l'annoncement et nous avions juste passé les doigts et les doigts en nous disant nos prières et en espérant que c'était quelque chose d'autre que le MND.

Mais malheureusement, la meilleure diagnosis a été reçue.

Et d'ici là, il s'agissait de s'arrêter et de mobiliser pour Jai et Barina et Isla et juste de s'assurer que nous pouvions donner de l'argent pour s'assurer que leurs futurs étaient sécurisés et que si Jai a besoin d'un traitement, qu'il serait en position de obtenir ça.

Et ce qui a été effrayant a été la réponse, non seulement de nos fans et de nos membres, mais de nos fans et de nos membres de tous les clubs.

Qu'est-ce qui constitue, j'adore l'idée de la partie, mais qu'est-ce qui la fait une partie

The mentality of what comes next?

Yeah, it was tough.

I think...

For those of us in the four walls here, we knew something was wrong well before the announcement and we were just crossing our fingers and toes and saying our prayers and hoping that it was something other than MND.

But unfortunately, the worst diagnosis was received.

And from there, it was about getting behind and mobilising for Jai and Barina and Isla and just making sure that we could raise money to make sure that their futures were secured and if Jai needed any treatment, that he would be in a position to get that.

And what's been overwhelming has been the response, not only from our fans and members, but fans and members of all clubs.

What constitutes, I love the idea of the party, but what makes it an official party?

The mentality of what comes next?

Yeah, it was tough.

I think...

For those of us in the four walls here, we knew something was wrong well before the announcement and we were just crossing our fingers and toes and saying our prayers and hoping that it was something other than MND.

But unfortunately, the worst diagnosis was received.

And from there, it was about getting behind and mobilising for Jai and Barina and Isla and just making sure that we could raise money to make sure that their futures were secured and if Jai needed any treatment, that he would be in a position to get that.

And what's been overwhelming has been the response, not only from our fans and members, but fans and members of all clubs.

What constitutes, I love the idea of the party, but what makes it an official party?